Big Mac "The Knife" Foster, 68, No. 1 heavyweight contender in 1970; fought Muhammad Ali for 15 rounds in 1972
Hoodoo
Monday, Jul. 19, 2010
By Jeff Davis / The Fresno Bee
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/19/2011397/former-pro-boxer-from-fresno-dies.html
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Local fighter Mac Foster plays with the crowd while on his way from
Fresno to Houston for a fight against Cleveland Williams in 1969.
Foster, who was a No. 1 contender for the heavyweight title and went
30-6 in his career in the 1960s and ’70s, died from congestive heart
failure Monday at age 68.
http://media.fresnobee.com/smedia/2010/07/19/22/Mac_Foster_009.mi_embedded.prod_affiliate.8.JPG
Mac Foster shows off his game face while training to fight Muhammad Ali
in 1972. Foster went 15 rounds with Ali at the Budokan Arena in Tokyo
but lost a unanimous decision.
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Ali vs. Foster poster
Big Mac "The Knife" Foster of Fresno, the son of Mississippi
sharecroppers, rose to No. 1 heavyweight contender in 1970 when
Americans still ruled boxing and Fresno was a hotbed for the sport.
The 6-foot-2 Vietnam veteran with a devastating left hook at one point
won 24 straight bouts by knockout and punched it out with Muhammad Ali
for 15 rounds in a non-title setback in Tokyo in 1972.
On Monday, Mr. Foster died from congestive heart failure. He was 68.
"Mac inspired me. He was my role model," said younger brother Keith
Foster, a Fresno deputy police chief. "He had a gracious smile and
joyful attitude, and he was a leader in boxing, the service and the
community."
Mr. Foster carved out an 11-year record of 30-6 in professional boxing,
including 18 victories at Selland Arena. All his victories were by
knockout. He rubbed elbows with Rocky Marciano and was taken out on the
town in New York City by Jack Dempsey, two legends of the sport.
On the night of June 17, 1970, Mr. Foster carried a 24-0 record into a
bout against Jerry Quarry at New York's Madison Square Garden. A victory
likely would have earned him a championship bout against Joe Frazier.
Instead, Quarry won by knockout in the sixth round, sending Mr. Foster's
career toward retirement. He won only six of his final 11 bouts -- the
end a 10-round decision loss to Stan Ward on Feb. 26, 1976, at the Civic
Auditorium in San Jose.
"It's all about timing. Mac felt it wasn't in the cards to fight for the
championship. He had no regrets," Keith Foster said. "He was proud of
the relationships he made and that he earned the respect of boxing's
greatest. He walked away with his head held high."
After boxing, Mr. Foster volunteered his time and coached the sport. He
approached then-Mayor Alan Autry about starting a foundation to serve
youth through boxing. His poor health prevented a youth center from
getting off the ground.
"The concept was a good one -- boxing to build character, not just
knockouts," Autry said. "If you met Mac, you'd never know he was a
boxer. He was a gentle soul, a great patriot who loved his country, and
he had such a good, peaceful heart."
Mr. Foster was born in Alexandria, La., but grew up in Fresno the third
oldest in a family of 11 children to strict parents Irwin Sr., who
became a nurse, and mother Annie Hughes. He picked grapes and cotton as
a youth.
Fresno State offered Mr. Foster a track and field scholarship out of
Washington High to throw the shot put and discus. But he volunteered for
the Marines and served two tours in Vietnam.
Finding his sport
If not for his big mouth, Mr. Foster might never have taken up boxing.
"Mac attended a military boxing match and said too loud, 'I can lick
anyone on the team,' " nephew Wesley Flowers said. "A sergeant heard him
boasting and said, 'You're going to join the team.' So, on a dare, he
did and wound up winning 14 service titles."
After the war, Mr. Foster turned pro and followed in the footsteps of
two other Fresno boxers who made it big -- Young Corbett III, a world
welterweight champion, and Wayne Thornton, a No. 1 light heavyweight
contender.
He trained with Thornton and Gabe Terronez under Pat DiFuria Sr. at the
Merced Street Gym. DiFuria said it was difficult to find Mr. Foster
quality opponents. He wasn't nationally known and fighters feared his
powerful punch.
"He put me in the hospital twice," said brother and sparring partner
Clyde Foster. "The first time with a body shot. I woke up with tubes up
my nose. The second time on the chin."
Mr. Foster once knocked out future heavyweight champion Sonny Liston
during a sparring round.
Training before his fight against Ali, Mr. Foster punched a heavy bag
off its chain and across the room. Fight odds that day were 5-to-1 for
Ali. Next day, they closed to 3-to-2.
Former heavyweight champion George Foreman once told Mr. Foster that he
owed his second-round knockout of Ken Norton in 1974 to the Fresno boxer
who sparred with Norton in training camp.
"Mac beat the heck out of Norton. They called a halt to the sparring
because it was getting too rough," said Flowers.
Tribute years later
In 2003, Foreman got the chance to thank Mr. Foster in person when they
met at Selland Arena, where Floyd Mayweather Jr. was defending his World
Boxing Council lightweight championship.
Flowers recalled: "George told my uncle, 'Nobody, and I mean nobody,
wanted to fight you.' "
Quarry echoed that sentiment some time after he beat Mr. Foster. They
were in a restaurant outside Palm Springs after a training session together.
"Mac shouts, 'Jerry, I want a rematch.' " Clyde Foster said. "Jerry
pauses for a long time, takes out his front teeth and yells back, 'I
want the world to know, they don't make enough money to fight you again.
I've never been hit that hard in my entire life.' "
Mr. Foster is survived by his wife, Yolanda, and nine children, 13
brothers and sisters, and stepmother Dorothy Foster.
Mac Foster services
Funeral: July 29, 11 a.m., St. Rest Baptist Church, 1550 E. Reverend
Chester Riggins Ave. in Fresno.
Viewing: July 28, 1-5 p.m. at Jesse E. Cooley Funeral Home, 1830 S.
Fruit Ave. in Fresno.
Tribute: A special video tribute and remembrances will be held after the
viewing at the Jesse E. Cooley Funeral Chapel from 6-7 p.m.
* Story Boxer was a champ for what he gave us
Soft-spoken, hard-punching Mac Foster owned this town in the
spring of 1970.
Fathers took their sons to watch him work the speed bag. Women
young and old sought his autograph. Restaurant owners like Jimmy
Saghatelian at the Old Fresno Hofbrau proudly introduced him to other
customers and comped his meals.
When Foster laced up his gloves, attendance records fell at
Selland Arena. Twenty-four fights. Twenty-four knockouts by the former
Marine who had done two tours in Vietnam.
--
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